1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clay-like composition for forming a sintered copper body, powder for the clay-like composition for forming a sintered copper body, a method of manufacturing the clay-like composition for forming a sintered copper body, a sintered copper body obtained from the clay-like composition for forming a sintered copper body, and a method of manufacturing the sintered copper body.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-257850, filed Nov. 18, 2010, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-226902, filed Oct. 14, 2011, the amount of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
In the past, jewelry, artistic handcrafts, and the like made of copper represented by, for example, a ring or the like, have been manufactured by casting or forging a copper-containing material in general. However, in recent years, copper clay (clay-like composition for forming a sintered copper body) containing copper powder has become commercially available, and a method has been suggested for manufacturing jewelry or artistic handcrafts made of copper having an arbitrary shape by making the copper clay into an arbitrary shape and then baking the copper clay (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 3).
The copper clay described-above can be freely shaped in the same manner as in general clay work, and it is possible to very simply manufacture jewelry, artistic handcrafts and the like made of copper by drying a shaped body obtained by shaping and then baking the shaped body using a furnace.
This type of copper clay is obtained by adding a binder and water and optionally further adding fatty substance or a surface active agent or the like to the pure copper powder and then kneading the mixture.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H09-071802
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-212603
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2003-049208